forever and always (most of the time)
by hannahsviolets
Summary: a look at connie and guy's relationship. (mostly canon through d3) slight, slight adamcharlie.


Guy moves into town when they're nine years old. Connie's playing hockey with the gang on the lake when he walks up to them, about a foot shorter than everyone (except Peter and Karp), and politely asks if he can join them. Jesse laughs in his face and tells him to find someone else to hang out with. Guy takes Jesse's hockey stick and skates around Charlie, Peter and Averman, syches out Goldberg and scores.

Everyone stares at him in disbelief because they've never met anyone who can actually play hockey before. Charlie makes the first move and introduces himself. Guy shakes everyone's hand and when he gets to Connie, she finds herself becoming very nervous and she can't move. Her cheeks must be bright red because Karp reaches up and pinches one, "Aw, look you guys, Connie's blushing! She thinks Guy is a total hunk!" He says 'hunk' in a total girly voice that Connie never does.

She punches him in the stomach and tells him that she doesn't get crushes. Then she properly introduces herself, giving Guy's hand a tight grip (whilst trying to ignore the warmth in her chest) and welcomes him to the team. Everyone eventually forgets about Connie's frozen moment, because they're too distracted by how good Guy is with a hockey stick. Connie is too distracted by how cute he is.

* * *

Guy walks her home from school one afternoon. He actually asks her if he can first, something she would normally roll her eyes about and say, "I can take care of myself!" But she finds that she doesn't mind so much if Guy wants to protect her from the streets of District 5.

They talk about their respective families and their friends and the things they like and dislike. Guy is very interesting, when he actually speaks. Connie had noticed that he didn't really say much unless spoken to, but when they were alone he was different. Still, Connie talked a lot more than he did and she found herself getting self conscious that she was talking too much and he was getting annoyed with her.

Why would something like that bother her? Who cares what some stupid boy thinks of her?

* * *

At fourth grade graduation, Guy's parents don't show up. He hides in the janitor's closet for most of the day and when no one can find him after his name gets called, a search party starts. The kids are told to stay seated but Connie gets up from her seat and runs out the gym door. She knows where he is immediately; she doesn't even have to think twice. Guy had once told her that when he wants quiet, he goes into the janitor's closet in the east wing and just sits.

She makes sure no one's behind her when she opens the door to see him curled up on the floor, crying. He stops when he sees her and sits up straight. "Oh . . . hi, Connie. Um, I'm sorry, I didn't . . . um . . . just . . . don't laugh at me, okay?"

It's stupid. It's so stupid because Guy knows that Connie would never laugh at him in a million years. She'll make fun of anyone else for the stupidest things, but she would never make fun of Guy.

She closes the door behind her and sits next to him. Connie pulls his hand from around his knee and entwines it with her hand. Guy looks up at her, and then looks away, "I just . . . they can't show up for one thing. Not even my graduation?"

"Parents suck. My dad walked out on me and my mom when I was five. And now my mom's got some dumb boyfriend so I never really see her. It's not just you. I don't want you to think that you're alone or something, cause you're not."

"But I am alone, Connie. At least your mom showed up to see you get your diploma. I have no one here to see me,"

"You have me," she says without thinking. "I'll be here to see you. When they call out your name, I'll stand up and cheer for you."

"You're not worried about the guys making fun of you? And saying that you – you know . . . have a crush on me?"

Connie still didn't want them thinking that, because she does not have a crush on Guy. Honest, she swears she doesn't. (Okay, maybe she does. Just a little.) But even if the kids are thinking that, it doesn't matter right now. She just needs to be there for him.

She stands up and offers Guy her hand, pulling him up with her. They exit the closet, still holding hands and some teachers passing by practically attack Guy, shoving him away from Connie. They ask him where he was, and what he thought he was doing. One of them yells at Connie for leaving (then whispers a thank you for finding him) and tells her to go back into the gym.

Connie sits down next to Charlie, who is the only one who doesn't think Guy going missing is "funny" or "badass" and she assures him that everything is fine. Guy returns moments later and waves before taking his seat.

The ceremony starts where it left off and this time when Guy's name is called, there isn't just a few soft claps. Connie stands up and yells his name as loud as she can, clapping and wooing, despite the blatant stares she's getting. Peter, Jesse and Karp are laughing their asses off and "oooh"ing at how obvious she's being. She could care less. Guy is smiling and happy and that's all she cares about.

* * *

Guy isn't afraid to admit that he has a crush on Connie. He has since the moment he met her. When he and Goldberg and Averman have a sleepover, he spends a good five minutes talking about how funny she is and how nice she is (which Goldberg laughs out loud at) and how smart she is. Averman shoves a pillow in his face to shut him up.

At school, he offers to carry Connie's books to class and holds doors open for her. He'll pass her notes with smiley faces and force Charlie to go up to her and ask her random questions about him.

The one thing that Guy won't do is actually ask Connie out. He thinks that there's no way in a million years that she'd ever go out with him, even though he's about one hundred percent positive she likes him back. He can see it in the way that she always defends him when their coach yells at him, the way that she always says that he's the best player on the team, the way that he sometimes catches her smiling at him from across the room. But he won't ask her out. Because what if she laughs in his face?

But then there's one day in particular where they all go out for pizza after hockey practice. Connie and Guy go up to order by themselves and while they're waiting online, Connie reaches out and takes his hand in hers. Guy can't believe what's happening right now, and he looks at Connie but she isn't looking at him. She's looking straight ahead at the menu, "Should we order three pies or four? Frickin' Goldberg is probably going to eat at least one on his own, so I guess four?"

"Um . . . yeah,"

"'Kay,"

Guy can't stop thinking about the way her fingers feel in his, and what prompted her to take his hand all of a sudden. They sit back down at the table after they order and Peter immediately starts pointing and hollering, "Oh, shit, guys look!"

Connie pulls him next to her and moves her hand from his hand to his arm. "Shove it, Peter."

Jesse starts making kissy-faces at them and Averman leads a chorus of "Connie and Guy sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

She lets go of Guy's arm and lunges across the table at him. "Do you want me to punch you in the face, Averman?"

He shakes his head and sinks back into his chair.

Later, when they're alone, Connie's waiting for her mom outside the parlor and Guy's getting ready to walk home, but figures he should wait with her first.

But he can't help but bring up what happened earlier because Connie hadn't.

"Why did you hold my hand?" he asks.

She looks at him like she's surprised. "Well . . . we are dating, right?"

"We are?"

"Well, you weren't going to ask me out so I figured I had to do something."

They stare at each for a few seconds before they both just start smiling. Again, Connie makes the first move. She pulls Guy's smile figure to her and bends down to bury her head in his neck. The two of them stay like that until Connie's mom arrives. She waves goodbye to Guy and looks around to make sure there's no one else around before blowing him a kiss.

* * *

They've been together for three months when Gordon Bombay becomes the new coach of the District 5 team. He's a monster, the worst person ever. Guy absolutely hates him. He wants to call him out and tell him how bad he makes them all feel. Connie likes him. She has hope that he'll be able to improve the team and that they might actually win a game.

She stops thinking that when Peter tells everyone that he overheard Bombay saying that they all deserve to die because they're so terrible. The team leaves together, except for Charlie and Fulton, both too loyal for their own good. They all go over to Jesse and Terry's house. None of them speak about Bombay, (Peter complains about it for a minute until Jesse throws a pillow in his face) they just sit and watch television together.

Connie whispers to Guy that she needs to talk to him alone and he follows her into the laundry room. She closes it behind her and sinks down to the floor. Both of them can hear the boys talking about how "things are getting dirty when the door's closed!" Connie isn't saying anything. Guy sits down next to her and before he can ask her what's wrong, she says, "Do you think anybody's listening or they're gonna come in or something? This frickin' door doesn't have a lock,"

He shakes his head. "No. I doubt they care that much. Why?"

"Because I don't want anyone else . . . seeing me cry," And then she starts straight up sobbing and falls into his arms. He doesn't know what to do, he doesn't know how to comfort her, he's never had to comfort anyone before.

Connie has her arms around his neck and she's wiping her tears on his sweater. "Um . . . I – I'm sorry, Connie, I don't know how to make you feel better. I can like . . . we can call your mom if you want and she can pick you up –"

Then she starts laughing. "Are you – are you – laughing?" She nods into his neck and then pulls away.

"You are such an idiot," she's still giggling. "If I wanted my mother, I would've went home. I'm here because I want you. And see? You're already making me feel better."

Guy starts laughing then too, because it's so stupid. It's so stupid the way Connie makes him feel and how nice her laugh is and how much nicer it is when he's the one causing it.

* * *

The day Bombay takes the team to go see an actual professional hockey team is the day that Connie kisses Guy for the first time. Obviously, she has to make the first move because Guy can never do anything without thinking long and hard about it.

All of them are leaving the game with smiles on their faces. Charlie and Bombay leave together. Peter, Jesse and Karp decide it might be fun to go off and follow the Hawks home. (Why? Connie has no idea.) Poor Adam leaves by himself. Everyone else walks home together.

She's had such a great day and is so overwhelmed with euphoria that when Guy stands on his tiptoes to kiss her cheek goodbye, she grabs his cheeks and pulls his lips to hers.

It doesn't last longer than five seconds but when it's over she can feel fireworks in her head and butterflies in her stomach. Guy looks like he's about to pass out and he sits down for a minute to process what had just happened.

Connie can't help but laugh because Guy is such a nerd but he's so cute.

* * *

There are three people Connie genuinely likes on the Ducks: Charlie, Averman and Guy. She also thinks Goldberg is pretty funny, but she'd never tell him that to his face.

But in the moment when Charlie does his triple deke and scores the winning goal in their game against the Hawks, Connie can't help but like everyone. In face, she loves everyone. It's moments like these that prove that all of the fighting and anger is worth it, because they're a family and at the end of the day, families love each other.

When they win that game, she hugs everyone. Peter, who constantly starts shit with her. Tammy, who thinks she's better than everyone else. Everyone.

Secretly, Connie's favorite moment of the night is when Guy kisses her in front of the entire team. (She can hear Jesse and Goldberg going 'Oh shit!' behind them but she doesn't care.) It's a real kiss, not like the one a few weeks ago. This one lasts for what seems like forever and their arms around each other and she can't even think about anything else aside from Guy and the way his lips feel and how happy she is in this moment.

* * *

Connie and Guy are the most consistent thing about the Ducks. No matter what happens, they'll be together and that's the one thing that won't change. When Bombay leaves to go for the minors, when Peter and Karp move away and Terry decides to quit the team. They're still together.

A year goes by and Guy gets taller and loses his baby fat and Connie teases him about it but says that she likes not having to bend down to kiss him anymore. He rolls his eyes at that comment. They go on dates to the movies and eat McDonald's in the parking lot and play street hockey in front of Guy's house.

Connie has a very rough exterior and if she's not in a good mood, she'll be rude to anyone that crosses her path. Everyone has noticed how much that's changed now that she's with Guy. He used to be the only person she was nice to, and now she's nice to everyone – most of the time. Guy's changed too. He talks a lot more and makes snarky comments like everyone else does.

Between classes, they sneak kisses and buy each other ice cream after school on Fridays.

Everything is absolutely perfect and neither of them would rather be anywhere than with each other.

* * *

When the Ducks become Team USA for the Goodwill games, Luis Mendoza joins the team and Connie becomes quite taken with him. It's nothing more than a crush and Guy knows that, but he can't help but be jealous. What, with how Connie tries to teach him how to stop and how she laughs too hard at his jokes? Can you blame him?

But still, Connie stays with him and that has to mean something.

Being Team USA is nothing like being the Ducks, and not in a good way. It's fun at first, until Coach Bombay becomes Coach Blood and starts working them to death. Practices that are normally four hours become eight hours and they are allowed two five minute breaks the whole time.

They take the bus home and Connie falls asleep on Guy's shoulder practically every time. It makes him feel less insecure about the whole Luis thing, because Luis is sitting on the other side of her and she curls up against him in her sleep always.

It turns out that there's nothing to worry about with Luis because although he seems to like Connie back, these long practices have her grumpy and she begins to find Luis annoying. She even tells him so numerous times. With her bad mood increasing, the only person Connie feels like being nice to is Guy. He was pretty grumpy too, but he kept it to himself, like he always did. There's this one day where they're all eating dinner at the hotel and Jesse says something rude about how Connie and Julie should "get more dressed up for them" and "wear something sexy." Portman laughs loudly and Adam tells Jesse to shove it. Everyone expects Connie to get angry, but she doesn't. She stares at Jesse for a few seconds and then says calmly, "No offense, but Julie and I wouldn't waste our 'sexy' clothes on you. We could do a lot better."

Afterwards, Guy pulls Connie aside. "I'm proud of you. You handled that really well,"

Connie blushes and takes his hand in hers. "I learn from the best. Like . . . I don't know, I was thinking about how well you handle things. You never get mad. You rationalize and think before you speak. And people respect you. No one on the team ever says anything mean to you because of that respect. I want that too."

He stays quiet for a moment, thinking before responding. (Guy doesn't realize that he's doing what Connie accused him of). "I respect you, if that means anything."

That huge smile appears on her face again, but she's too emotionally exhausted to kiss her boyfriend so she settles for pulling him into a soft hug.

* * *

The time after they win the Goodwill Games is the best that either of them can remember. Charlie seems a lot happier now that Bombay is around so much, Portman transferred to District 5 to stay with Fulton's family, making Fulton a lot more cheerful then they'd ever seen him. The only downside was Jesse moving away, but neither Connor nor Guy could find very much to complain about.

It's about two months after they win that things start to go downhill. Connie and Guy have their first fight. Well, not their first one, but the first one that they don't forget about after a day. And it's over the stupidest thing. Guy refuses to wear deodorant and Connie tells him that he's going to have to eventually because he already stinks. And he tells her she's getting mad over nothing and needs to calm down. Which just pisses Connie off even more so she tells him to go fuck himself and he tells her not to talk to him like that. They don't break up, but she talks shit about him to Julie and he talks shit about her with the rest of the team.

A few days later they miss each other too much and they kiss and make up.

A week later, they fight again because Connie gets frustrated with how Guy never says how he's feeling and how she always has to guess. He hasn't told her he loved her after all this time and when she said she loved him, he just kind of stood there and stared at her.

So she tells him off about that and Guy starts saying she doesn't care about his feelings anyway, and Connie is genuinely hurt by that and runs off.

They don't speak for five days.

They only start speaking again because they're running in gym and Guy trips and twists his ankle and Connie runs to him and takes him to the nurse. She sits in the hospital waiting room knowing as well as he does that his parents won't be there for a few hours, for no other reason other then they're too busy doing something 'more important.'

Connie doesn't know if she kisses him when he comes out with his crutches to wait for his parents to pick him up because she's not mad or if it's just because she feels bad for him. She thinks it's a little bit of both.

* * *

It seems all Guy and Connie do anymore is fight. Guy will say anything and Connie will tell him he sounds "ignorant" or "conceited" or "arrogant." Which Guy finds weird, because Connie always used to say that he needed to think more highly of himself. And now that he actually does (which is mostly because of her and the love and support she gives him) she's mad. It's like he can't win with her.

So then he starts in on her, and tells her that she doesn't have any friends outside the team because she's always making snide comments at everyone. And then Connie says that she's so mean to everyone because everyone treats everyone like shit and she's not going to let "her being a female stop her from fighting back" and that "being tough doesn't make her a bitch."

It's usually something like that.

They fight. They break up. They get back together. They fight. They break up. They get back together. It's a never ending cycle.

The last straw is when Connie is having a particularly bad day and sees some girl she's never seen in her life flirting with Guy and being obvious about it, and he does nothing. She storms over and pulls Guy away from her.

"What were you doing with her?"

"Talking."

"About what?"

"Hockey?"

"With her?"

". . . obviously."

"Don't get smart with me! She was flirting with you."

"No . . . she was talking."

"Guy, she was touching your leg."

"Oh . . . um . . . well . . ."

"Exactly."

And that's basically the end of it. It was five more minutes of the two of them going back and forth. Connie, accusing him of cheating (even though she knew she hadn't and was just sick and tired of him), Guy telling her that she was just looking for an excuse to break up with him (which she was). And then after a little while, they were done arguing. They were done screaming. They were done.

They went their separate ways, and when they were far enough away from each other, they started to cry.

* * *

The breakup was the beginning of things going downhill for the Ducks, because it was about four months before they were enrolled as freshmen at Eden Hall. All of the Ducks were remotely uncomfortable about it, because they all knew that things just wouldn't be the same if Connie and Guy weren't together.

They couldn't be even remotely civil to each other for a month. Julie had to come with Connie when she brought Guy his stuff back just to make sure they didn't fight. When the Ducks go out to eat, they eat at opposite ends of the table so they don't even have to look at each other.

But as mad as they both are, they're also extremely bitter. Guy is hurt that Connie had stopped even liking him as a person before they broke up, that she thought that he wasn't worth staying with. Connie was upset that Guy no longer saw the good in her, and didn't think that she had a good heart like she used to. But she's also mad at herself for breaking up with him because she only did it because she was fed up with his passive aggressive behavior.

So when they get to Eden Hall, all of that hurt just gets worse because the environment they're in is no longer nice and good. Bombay left to go off and coach some other team, which of course pissed Charlie off, and he got even more pissed off when the Varsity team started treating them like shit and when their new coach, Orion, started treating him like shit. And with their team captain not being as kind and compassionate as he usually was, everyone was in a bad mood. Portman had decided to attend Eden (something all of them wished they'd decided not to do), which had Fulton grumpy and sad without his other half.

Connie knew how he felt. Without her other half, she didn't feel like much. She felt lost and confused and didn't know who to turn to. She couldn't talk to her mom and it wasn't like she could talk to the guys for feeling the way she did. She ended up spending more of her time with Julie, who seemed to understand a lot better than anyone else on the team did. Except Guy, of course.

Guy, on the other hand, felt like he had no one to talk to. All anyone did was complain anymore, and no one wanted to talk about anything other than how much they hated hockey now. Guy missed Coach Bombay, and he missed Charlie's optimism, but he couldn't say that he completely say he hated hockey. Coach Orion gave him a lot of ice time, and as cruel as he was, Guy couldn't bring himself to hate him. He didn't really hate anyone.

But he had no one to hang out with now. He usually hung out with Connie and Julie, but that was obviously out of the question. Goldberg and Averman were pretty much his only options, and as much as he liked them, they'd become somewhat more annoying since they'd gotten to Eden. He would've liked to hang out with Adam, who was very level headed, but now that he was an "enemy" he doubted that would be okay.

It was a terrible time for the both of them.

Hans' death was something that no one expected. Although he was old, him dying was something that none of them could've expected. The announcement is made during a particularly dark time during their freshmen year, and it just makes things worse for everyone.

The funeral is perhaps the saddest thing Guy has ever experienced. He's never known someone who died, and having the first person be someone who'd done nothing but show kindness to himself and his friends is horrifying. He doesn't cry though. No one really cries.

The repast is awkward. Jan said that Hans wrote in his will that he wanted lots of money spent on it. It's the biggest amount of food they've ever seen before, and as much as they want to be happy about it, they can't. Even seeing Bombay again isn't as great as it would've been during normal circumstances. Goldberg tries to make it better for everyone by cracking jokes but it doesn't work. He gets a couple of pity laughs, because everyone understands how Goldberg is and how he handles things.

Guy keeps his eye on Connie, because even though they broke up ten months ago, and their only words to each other have been insults, he still cares for her. And he remembers how upset she was when her grandpa died in grade six. She seems sort of normal, taking it as well as anyone else is. She's sitting at one of the back tables with Julie and Adam. They're whispering quietly together, Julie and Adam are smiling slightly, but Connie isn't lost. It's then that Guy decides he needs to talk to her. He thinks maybe he'll feel better if he gets to be with her.

He gets up and walks across the room over to her, standing there for a moment before she notices him. "Connie, can we talk for a minute?"

She stares at him, she looks shocked that he wants to talk to her. And to his surprise, she nods and excuses herself from the table. The two of them walk outside into the hallway and Connie nods at him, telling him to start talking silently.

"I uh, I just wanted to make sure you were okay,"

Connie raises an eyebrow. "I didn't think you cared."

"Connie, I'm really not in the mood to do our normal bickering routine. You know I care about you, I never stopped. And no, I'm not hitting on you. I just want to talk about how you're feeling."

There's a moment of silence.

Guy can tell Connie wants to say something sarcastic but she doesn't. ". . . I uh, I feel the same way, I mean, I hope you're okay too."

"Well, I'm not that okay. I mean, how can I be, right?"

Connie nods. "I just – everything has sucked this year, you know? And this is just the icing on the cake."

"The icing on the cake of a year that's been nothing but bad to the Ducks."

"It's just not fair. I mean, it's Hans. He was just – such a good guy. And he dies. Out of nowhere."

"He was old. At least he got to live a long life."

Connie shrugs. "That doesn't make it hurt any less."

Guy can't argue with that. He doesn't know what to say to make Connie feel better because he can't do that anymore. He knows that even if now isn't the time to get back together and even if they never get back together, he'll always love Connie and all he wants is to make sure she's okay.

"I'm sorry, Guy. For everything," It comes out of the blue and Guy doesn't know how to respond to it. He has to think about it for a second before responding.

"I'm sorry too."

"Listen – just . . . life's too short. And I love you, it's not just the type of fake love you feel for your middle school boyfriend, it's a love that'll never go away. I don't want to get back together, but I want to stop fighting and I want to be friends because you're very important in my life. I just hope you feel the same way."

Guy doesn't have to respond to that. He's so happy that Connie took the words right out of his mouth and he doesn't have to tell her the exact same thing. So instead of saying anything, he wraps his arms around Connie and hugs her. And it just feels so good to be close to her again.

"I love you too," he whispers.

* * *

Sophomore is a big improvement over freshmen year. They're not the Warriors anymore, they're back to being the Ducks. Charlie's happy again, Adam's back, Portman's back, Connie and Guy are talking again and most of the dickhead Varsity players graduated. Things are finally going okay.

After the first game of the season, some of the older kids throw a party and the entire team is invited in honor of their win. Everyone is super nervous because they know what kind of party it is, and even though they're the "ghetto" kids most of them have never drank before. Except for Portman and Fulton.

The party's pretty crazy and Connie dances with Julie practically the entire night. Neither of them drink, they don't feel like they should just yet. All of the boys except for Charlie and Adam drink. Only Portman, Fulton, Russ and Guy get full on wasted tough.

The sight of Guy drinking concerns Connie. She secretly doesn't want him doing something so . . . adult. She's always seen him as so innocent and she wants to protect him from things that aren't so innocent.

At some point during the night, a cheerleader approaches him and they talk for a little while. Connie takes notice of how she keeps touching his arm and laughing too hard at his jokes when she and Connie both know that Guy isn't that funny. After a little while, she whispers something into his ear and he laughs and lets her take his hand and lead him into the bathroom.

The sounds of Averman and Dwayne's woots and hollers only sort of drown out the sound of blood pumping in Connie's ears. She stops dancing and stares at the bathroom door, forgetting that Julie is next to her, asking her what's wrong and if she's okay. She forgets everything except for the fact that Guy is in some random person's bathroom with some random girl.

He comes out about five minutes later, looking flushed and pleased. The girl follows behind him, wiping her lips on her arm, without a single look of embarrassment. The Ducks rally around Guy, shouting and congratulating him.

"Oh," Julie simply says.

Connie doesn't need anyone to tell her what went on in that bathroom. She also doesn't need anyone telling her she's jealous because she's not, she swears.

Luis, who'd been off sulking because his girlfriend dumped him over the summer, had missed all the action and approaches Connie and Julie. "What'd I miss?" he slurs, looking on at the boys and Guy. (Goldberg had started making sexual innuendos with his hands, Portman had started thrusting and making noises).

In a moment of impulsivity, Connie grabs Luis' face in between her hands and pulls his lips to hers. He's taken aback for a split second, but after a few moments, places his hands on her waist and leans in to the kiss. Julie steps back, yelling "Woah!" over the pounding music and backs up to the Ducks.

"Looks like Connie's getting some action herself, tonight," Averman, who had been the first to notice, jokes. He elbows Guy, who turns to see what's unfolding in front of him.

And suddenly the hype of his first blowjob doesn't mean anything. Nothing means anything except for Connie and Luis. They're standing in front of everyone, playing tonsil hockey, something Guy didn't even know Connie knew how to do. She sees him looking at her, and moves Luis' hands from her waist to her ass.

"Oh, shit!" Fulton laughs.

"Get it, Luis!" Portman hollers.

Guy wants to storm over and pull Luis off of Connie but he knows there's nothing he can do. What can he do? Even in his drunken state, he's not stupid enough to yell at her and punch Luis. He'd sound like a total hypocrite.

Connie knows what she's doing to Guy when she can see him staring out of the corner of her eye. It's satisfying, the taste of revenge. She silently thanks Luis for walking over, because she could've picked any guy to make out with, but she knew Luis would piss off Guy the most.

* * *

Connie and Luis kind of start dating after that, and by kind of, I mean they mostly just made out. He was immensely boring to talk to though, and Connie tried to avoid him when Guy wasn't around. Whenever he was, she'd hop onto his lap and start sucking his face. She felt bad about using Luis the way she was, but she knew he didn't mind because he told her that he knew that she didn't like him one day.

"I know you don't have feelings for me,"

". . . what? Uh, yes I do?"

"That sounded more like a question. And if you like me, then how come you only ever want to kiss me when Guy's around?"

"Um . . . I never really noticed."

"It's okay, Connie. I mean, as long as I get to kiss a pretty girl, who cares right?"

She gives a simple kiss on the cheek for that and thanks him.

Guy isn't speaking to her and that bothers Connie more than she cares to admit. She won't even talk to Julie about it, who she tells everything to.

The worst part of it all is that Guy has started going out with that girl from the party and he actually seems to like her. She's blonde and wears makeup every day and (from what's she's heard and seen) really knows how to satisfy a boy. Her name is Brittany(as if she wasn't cliché enough) and Connie can't help but be jealous of her. And she feels like shit because she's the one that broke up with Guy in eighth grade, not the other way around.

It's after a particularly hard day, where Brittany sits in the front row of the stands with a giant poster with Guy's name on it and blows him kisses anytime he breathes, that Connie finally can't take it anymore.

She waits until everyone is gone before she starts crying. She sits on the floor outside the entrance to the rink and breaks down. She misses Guy and it took someone else having him to get her to see that. She misses kissing him and holding his hand and cuddling up next to him on cold days. Now Brittany would be the one to do all of that stuff with him.

Of course Connie would never let Guy know any of this. Every time he says hi to her she shoots him a dirty look. Every time he tries to give her a high five after a good play, she rolls her eyes. She knows she can't be mad at him, because he did nothing wrong, but she is.

She gets even more mad when she sees him and Brittany together. When their blonde heads mush together or when they disappear into rooms at parties, it makes her stomach turn.

What Connie doesn't notice, is the smile that Guy has on his face when he's with Brittany. It's nowhere near as wide as he smile he had (and still has) with Connie.

* * *

Guy and Brittany don't really have an emotional connection. She doesn't seem to think they do, and he definitely doesn't. All they really do is . . . well, they haven't had sex. Yet. But they've pretty much done anything else. The first time, Guy couldn't really control because he was drunk. But he felt bad about the rest of them. He'd always thought that all of those first sexual encounters would be with Connie. She'd thought the same thing.

The breakup is expected. It's after the last game of the season at this huge party that Portman and Fulton are throwing at their place. Guy's drinking a beer with Averman when he sees Brittany talking to a basketball player that he's seen a couple of times. And then talking becomes kissing.

Guy confronts her and demands to know what happened, and she tells him that she didn't think they were offical or anything and that this guy is her ex boyfriend and she's been wanting to get back together with him for a while. He storms off, he has nothing else that he wants to hear or say. He hadn't even liked Brittany that much, but it still hurts.

He ditches Averman and runs outside to the front of the house. He lies down next to the front step on the grass and stares up at the sky, just trying to think.

It's a few minutes later when someone comes outside and lies down next to him.

"I saw Brittany with Zach Jensen. Sorry,"

Guy looks over. It's Connie. This is the first time she's spoken kindly to him since he and Brittany became a thing. He wants to start with her and tell her that she's not that sorry, but he's too tired.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later. Our relationship wasn't really . . . emotion based,"

Connie laughs, "I noticed."

The both of them are quiet for a moment, just enjoying the peace of being together. It's unexpected when Connie takes his hand in hers. It reminds him of the first time she did, when they were in the janitor's closet so many years ago together.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry . . . because you deserve better. And I don't like that you got hurt,"

He wanted to say that she hurt him when they broke up but he doesn't. "Yeah, me neither."

"Just . . . I think you're amazing. And kind. And wonderful at everything you do. And I wish more people would see that because you deserve it."

"Connie, you'll probably always be the only who sees that part of me that you think is so great. Even I don't see it."

She squeezes his hand. "Well, I'm determined to make you see it."

And then they're kissing. Their arms are wrapped around each other and her lips feel cold and his taste like liqour and it just feels so good, so impossibly good, to be back like this. It feels like nothing has changed since the last time they kissed.

They break apart a few minutes later, both of them panting slightly.

"I got to admit," Guy says. "I missed that,"

"I missed you," Connie responds.

* * *

They're back together and happier than ever. They hold hands in the hallways and kiss each other goodbye before parting ways. Connie takes Guy to the soccer field behind the school at lunch and Guy takes Connie to the park after school. He tells her that in recent months, he goes there because feeding the ducks calms him down. Connie thinks this is the cutest thing she's ever heard.

She also thinks that this might be the happiest time of her life.

The sophomore dance that year has a "famous couples" theme, something that everyone on the Ducks think is a stupid theme because not everyone has a date. And by that, they mean that they don't have dates. Guy and Connie and Charlie are the only ones who are all set. Adam, Portman and Luis get dates easily, Russ' brother's friend's sister agrees to go with him, Dwayne's cousin flies in for him (he gets a lot of shit for this), Julie asks this cute guy on the basketball team, and everyone else ends up going in a group. (They go as multiple versions of the Beatles).

Guy and Connie go as themselves. Guy wears Connie's jersey and she wears his. He gets a long, dark wig and she ties it into her signature braid for him. She wears his signature beanie and stuffs her hair into it. Everyone makes fun of them and keeps saying that they're not a famous couple, but both of them beg to differ.

It's that night that they go back to Guy's empty house and watch Jurassic Park while they lie on his bed. Connie's in a pair of his sweats and a t shirt, while Guy wears practically the same thing in different colors. It's towards the end of the movie that Connie sits up and looks Guy in the eyes. She puts her hand on his stomach and says simply, "I wanna do it," because she doesn't know how else to say it.

"It? Like – like –"

"Yes."

"Now?"

"No, next week. Yes, now."

Guy seems shocked that she wants to, because he stares at her for a few moments before she says "So, are we going to do it or not?"

"Well . . . um . . . you really want to, right?"

"Obviously."

"Then yes. Um, I don't really know how to like . . ."

Connie laughs. "Me neither,"

They decide that they should start by taking their pants off. That's not a big deal, they've seen each other in bathing suits and this is no different. It's not a big deal until Connie takes her bra off. She doesn't let him stare at her for too long because she suddenly feels strangely self conscious. She just starts kissing him until their underwear is off.

From then on, it's awkward. Like crazy awkward. It only lasts about two minutes, and they're looking each other in the eyes the entire time. Connie had never noticed how beautiful Guy was before, she'd always thought that he was good looking, but he is beautiful. Beautiful in a way that only she can find him because they're Connie and Guy. Their names are always said together or not at all. They're each other's other half.

After, when she's lying on his chest and he's staring up at the ceiling, in disbelief that this has actually happened; she tells him this and he laughs. It's warm, welcoming laughter. "You're such an idiot," he whispers into her hair and she laughs too and says "I know," And then he kisses her on the head and they fall asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

Connie and Guy break up a few months later during the summer before junior year. His parents had gone out of town for a week and Connie's mother was away with her boyfriend so she stayed with him for the whole week. It was nice at first. They had sex at night and then fell asleep together. They'd sleep in late and then watch cartoons and eat large bowls of cereal. In the afternoons, they'd rollerblade around town with the Ducks.

But after five days, Connie didn't want to do it anymore. As much as she loved Guy and couldn't imagine herself with anyone else, and she didn't want her life with him to be like this. She asked him on the fifth night if this was what he pictured their lives together to be like and he said, "Yeah, of course. I love this." Connie didn't. She wanted a life of adventure and action, not one of late breakfasts and sleeping.

So she broke up with him. It hurt a lot to have to do, but at the end of the day, she thought it was the right thing to do. Guy couldn't stop crying when she did it, which just made her start crying. Connie kisses his cheek and tells him she loves him but she wants more than this.

The school year starts off with a bang, when an upset Guy confronts Connie before practice and says, "So uh, how's the whole 'adventure' thing going, Cons?"

"Leave it, Guy," Julie buts in.

"Oh, so you're looking after her now, is that it? Julie giving you all the adventure you could ask for? Huh?" It's so uncharacteristically Guy and everyone notices.

"Just . . . fuck off, alright? Let's not involve anyone in our personal business." Connie insists. She's heavily embarrassed, but doesn't want to admit it. She knows that Guy can tell, he can read her like a book.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Connie, I didn't mean to – am I like hurting your feelings? God forbid I do that! God forbid that for one fucking time I be the one to say shit. Y'know, you always used to tell me that I need to stand up for myself and look what I'm doing – standing up for myself!" It's then that Connie notices that Guy is slurring his words. She should have seen this before. Guy has never been one to speak this loudly in public.

"Have you been drinking?"

"Shit! Connie finally picks up on something, Jesus Christ, that's a new one!"

Guy is getting so loud that some of the guys begin whispering to each other that maybe they should do something. It's Charlie that comes up next to him and whispers in his ear that he'll take him home, but Guy says, "No, man. I'm fine. I want to practice."

"Go home, Guy," Connie states. It's an impulse. Guy always used to listen her, but things aren't like that anymore.

"Don't act like you can tell me what to do anymore, Connie. You gave up that right when you broke up with me!"

Fulton and Portman step in and take Guy by the arms and begin taking him out of the locker room, he keeps shouting that he's fine but everyone knows he isn't. Connie starts to cry and Julie wraps her arms around her and escorts her into the girls' locker room so they can talk together in silence.

While Orion was outside with the rest of the team trying to find out why Guy had been acting so weird, Adam knocked on the door of the locker room. Julie invited him. He told them not tell anyone that he'd told them, but pretty much everyone on the team knew that Guy had been drinking pretty badly for the past couple of months. Apparently, the week after Connie and Guy broke up, Guy's father had overdosed and well . . . you know the rest.

He didn't want anyone to know, but since he'd been drinking pretty much twenty four seven since it happened, it kind of came out one night.

Connie started crying even harder after that and neither Adam nor Julie know what to say. They just sort of let her cry, because that's what she needs to do right now.

Later, at night, she walks over to Guy's house. She sort of knows that he's not going to talk to her, but she doesn't care. It had been months since his dad died and she hadn't known. Guy had once told her that she was the most important person in his life and she didn't even know that his father was dead. She needed to see him. Say anything to him.

She knocks on his front door and he answers. She expects him to be holding a beer can but he isn't. He looks about half asleep though. His facial expression changes from sleepy to annoyed when he sees her. "What?"

"I'm sorry . . . I just heard," she's on the verge of tears, but she wants to stop herself. She can't cry in front of Guy. Not now.

"Who told you?" Guy practically demands.

Connie shakes her head. "N-no one. I just overheard the guys talking about it and –"

Guy pounds his fist against the door frame. "Those fuckers. I'll kill them."

"I just . . . I'm sorry. I should've known."

"No, you shouldn't have."

Connie gives him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"You have no right to know anything about my life because you broke up with me. For the second time."

She doesn't want to talk about that right now. She doesn't really want to talk about anything. All she wants is for Guy to somehow get into a better, less drunken mood and maybe go ice skating with her and share a hot dog. Connie wants that so bad she might scream, but she won't because she knows that'll never happen.

She pauses for a second, not knowing what to say to that. Finally, she comes up with something. "I love you,"

"Don't." He slams the door in her face.

* * *

Guy ends up getting suspended from the hockey team because of his excessive drinking. No one is shocked. They're all upset for Guy though. No one bothers to talk to Connie, who's been in a bad mood ever since the door slamming incident. The only person talking to Guy is Charlie who goes over to his house and brings over some of his mom's home cooked food beause Guy's mom is too sad to do anything. According to what Adam told Julie who told her, all Guy ever says to Charlie is "thanks" and then he goes back to doing whatever it is he did.

It took everything in Connie not to call Guy every day and tell him that he can talk to her whatever he wants and that she loves him. Every time she tried, she'd call Julie who would talk to her for as long as she needed to distract herself.

The first time Guy and Connie talk is when she gets switched into his gym class. He rolls his eyes when he sees her, probably thinks she's stalking him or something. The only other Duck in her gym class is Adam, who she's become pretty close with this year. One day though, Adam is absent so she's alone during the weekly mandatory mile. Connie trips over herself (because she's distracted, watching how much slower Guy runs than he used to) and twists her ankle. A couple of girls stop to ask her if she's okay. The gym teacher doesn't notice at first because Connie isn't screaming, she's just crying and whimpering about the pain. Someone goes to get the gym teacher, who blows her whistle so everyone stops running so that they don't accidentally run Connie over. The whistle blows Guy back into reality, he'd been too distracted basking in his own self pity, and when he sees Connie lying on the ground, her face red from pain he sprints over to her. He ends up pushing groups of kids out of the way to get to her and gets down on his knees, his hand on her shoulder. "What happened? What hurts?"

Connie's too surprised that Guy is here next to her to answer. The gym teacher answers for her, "Sprained ankle, it looks like."

Guy is freaking out. He's never had to see Connie hurt before, and now that they're not talking, now that they're not comfortable around each other, he's even more freaked. He doesn't know how to comfort her without making it seem like he's making a pass at her.

Something in him can't help it, though. When she's gotten to the point where's she's almost screaming in pain, he lets her lean against his chest to distract her and puts a hand on her elbow. He can tell how uncomfortable she is with everyone staring at her, and how relieved she is when the nurse shows up (finally) with a wheelchair.

Guy doesn't even ask the teacher if he can go with her, he just does. He keeps asking her if she's okay, if she needs him to call her mom, if she needs water. The nurse has a faint smile on her lips, but Connie doesn't because she's still crying. She shakes her head to everything and just says, "Stay with me, okay?"

He nods and takes her hand. "Of course, of course, yeah."

Connie doesn't have to go to the hospital because she doesn't mess up her ankle that bad. The nurse is able to wrap it up there and give her crutches. Thankfully, it's only going to have to be wrapped for about a week so she won't miss too much hockey. When the nurse leaves to go care for another student, Guy and Connie are left alone. Connie lying on one of the beds, Guy sitting next to her in her wheelchair.

"You know, it was really sweet of you to come to my rescue like you did. You know, after everything."

Guy had completely forgotten about 'everything' until then. He gulped, choosing to ignore his recent anger and be honest. "I'll always be there for you, Connie. You know that."

She nods. "I do. But I guess I kinda forgot for a while."

"Me too."

There's an awkward silence. Both of them are staring at each other, saying nothing but they both know what the other is thinking like they always have. They're kissing suddenly, a great passionate kiss. Connie's still in pain because she's not allowed painkillers without her mother's consent (who of course is out with a new boyfriend and won't pick up her phone) but suddenly all her pain is gone. Her arms are wrapped around Guy's neck, practically glueing him to her lips. Not that he's complaining.

Their kiss is about thirty seconds long when they pull apart and Guy raises his eyebrows. Connie knows what he's asking and she nods. He gets up and checks to make sure the nurse is still busy before shutting and looking the door to their little room.

And that's the story of how they did it in the nurse's office.

* * *

It starts like that. They have sex just once. And then it turns into twice when Guy comes over to check on her. Then three when he comes back to hockey and she wants to congratulate him. After the third time, they finally discuss what's going on.

"What do you think, Connie?" he says sarcastically when she asks.

She slaps him lightly on the chest. "I'm serious, Guy. I mean one second we hate each other and the next we're sleeping together. What's up with that? I mean . . . are we getting back together?"

"Why? Do you want to?"

"Only if you want to."

"No, I don't."

"Okay . . . me neither."

He lifts himself off of her to lie next to her in his bed. It's less awkward that way. Connie says, "So then are we doing one of those cheesy movie plot friends with benefits things?"

"I guess. If that's okay with you."

Connie thinks about it in length. She's missed Guy. She likes having sex. She likes how much happier she is when she's with him without all the baggage the promise of a relationship means. She likes how much happier Guy seems to. "Yeah, totally okay. More than okay." He smiles and she kisses him, grinning as well when they pull apart.

"But like . . . what are we gonna tell people? The Ducks?" she asks.

"Do we have to tell them anything?"

"I guess not . . ."

"It's not like I even really talk to anyone anymore, they're all scared of me."

Connie thinks of how she will handle not being able to tell anyone. "But what about Julie and Adam? They're my best friends, they're bound to notice something."

"Lie," Guy shrugs.

"That works?"

"Sure. I do it all the time."

It sounds like a dickish thing but it actually makes Connie laugh and they start making out.

* * *

Their 'relationship' is better than Connie would've expected. They're talking again and hanging out again and the sex is just an added benefit. Things are better for Guy too, which makes her beyond happy. He's doing better in school, smiling more, hanging out with the Ducks again, and he's practically stopped drinking. At least around her. If she sees him trying to drink, she'll start kissing him and he'll forget about it.

The Ducks notice something different. The first person who does is Charlie, who picks up on things quicker than the others. He notices how Guy will always stay in the locker room later than everyone else and then the next day he'll overhear Julie complaining to Russ that Connie took forever changing and that her mom was pissed because she'd had to drive her home. And then another time when he's messing around in the hallway with Ken and Guy, he shoves Ken into Guy's locker and a string of condoms falls out. Guy plays it off and says, "You can never be too safe" but then he sees Connie across the hallway and waves at her, a goofy smile on his face.

Portman bets that Guy's in a good mood because he's getting some and everyone laughs because he hasn't mentioned anyone and then Averman jokes that maybe he and Connie back. Everyone laughs even harder about that, except for Guy, who shrugs it off. Later, Averman whispers to Charlie that maybe Connie is just still a sore spot.

Charlie actually gets it confirmed that something's going on when he's early for practice so he can talk to O'Rion and walks in on the two of them making out against the glass wall around the rink. They see him and start begging him not to tell anyone and that this was just a one time thing.

But Charlie's not so sure because with Connie and Guy, it's never just a one time thing.

* * *

It's a few months later when Guy is laying on Connie's bed watching her try on different dresses that she's probably never worn but has always had just in case.

"Okay, I think this one is the best, but I don't know, what do you think?"

It's a simple purple velvet dress that in Guy's opinion, makes her look pretty sexy with her hair down. "It's great, just like the last one you tried on."

"Yeah but which one is better?"

"That one, I guess."

She smiles and goes back into her closet to look for shoes.

"What are you even getting dressed for anyway? You don't go to any fancy shit."

Connie comes out with a pair of flats and sits on the edge of her bed to put them on. "Well, you know Ty Greenford?"

"That rich asshole on the lacrosse team? Yeah, what about him?" Guy sits up. He thinks he knows where this is going.

"He asked me to go out to this fancy restaurant on the other side of town with him."

"And you said yes? Connie, you hate shit like that."

She shrugs and gets up to brush her hair. "Yeah, but I don't know, I think maybe I could like it. I've never been anywhere nice before."

"Hey, I've taken you out loads of time."

"The nicest place we ever went was to TGIFridays, and I wouldn't really categorize that as fancy."

Guy is beginning to get annoyed. He knows this whole thing was kind of his idea, but he can't help being upset that Connie is going out with another guy. She's never really done that. Like for real.

"Do you like him?" he asks, trying not to sound insecure.

"Well, I don't not like him. That's why I'm going out with him. To see how I feel. Hair up or down?"

He thinks it looks better down but now that he knows she's going on a date he says, "Up. How do you know Ty's not like a total psycho creep?"

She rolls her eyes as she ties her hair up. "I don't. But I'm trying to have more faith in people. I mean, isn't that a good thing?"

Guy sighs loudly. "I guess,"

Connie finishes up and checks herself in the mirror. "Alright, well, I'm supposed to meet him out front in a few minutes so I'd better get going," she leans down and kisses Guy gently. "Let yourself out whenever, okay?"

Guy nods and falls back onto her bed. Connie slams the door behind her.

He's still there when she returns two hours later, smiling and glowing. She opens her door, surprised to see him. "You never went home?"

He doesn't say anything, doesn't know what to say. He hopes his usual excuse of spending time with Connie – he doesn't like being home, which isn't really a lie – will work. It does because she doesn't press the issue any further.

"You're lucky I didn't walk in here with Ty with me, then." Connie has this huge smile on her face and she starts taking her hair out of it's ponytail.

"Oh . . . were things going to go that far?" he stops watching TV to look at her.

Connie shrugs. "Maybe."

"Okay, um . . . well, you know, if you do decide to like . . . sleep with other guys you have to be careful."

She laughs playfully, still elated from her date. "I know, Guy. Duh."

"Especially guys like Ty."

"What do you mean by that?" her tone is questioning with only a small hint of anger.

Guy thinks quickly, trying to make something up. "Just that I hear he does that kind of thing a lot."

Connie turns from her mirror to look at him, hand on her hip. "What kind of thing?"

"Takes girls out. They have a great time. Things lead to sex. Then he never calls them again."

Connie knows Guy better than anyone. She knows how he is. She can tell when he's lying. But she's done screaming, so she doesn't yell. She just whispers, "Get out."

"What? Why?"

"You're lying. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were stupid, but I'm not lying."

She grabs his arm and pulls him off of her bed. "Hey, hey easy!" he complains.

Connie gets him outside of her room and stands in her doorway for a moment. "Just tell me why you would make up something like that? Are you jealous?"

He gets defensive right away. "Wh-what? No! No, of course not! No!"

She shakes her head. She's crying now, and she wishes she wasn't. "You're a liar. I've never known you to be a liar. What happened?"

"I'm not lying, Connie!"

"Fuck you," she whispers and then slams the door in his face.

* * *

They don't speak again until the summer between junior year and senior year. She's having a sleepover at her house with Julie and Adam while her mom is out and they're all swapping stupid stories and secrets that they've never admitted before. Connie's dumbest story is about how when she and Guy were ten years old, they went outside during a huge rain storm and danced in the puddles for hours and then they both got super sick.

Julie smiled, "I can't believe you guys were together for that long,"

"When I was on the Hawks, we used to call them Mr. and Mrs. Duck." said Adam.

"You called us that until like last year," Connie giggled.

"I know you guys like hate each other now, but you were a really cute couple," said Julie.

Connie shrugs. She knows that.

"Well, Guy doesn't hate Connie," Adam said, popping some popcorn into his mouth.

Both girls exchange a look and then say in unison, "What?"

"How do you know?" Connie asks.

"He told me." He's giving her a cheeky look now, like he's not supposed to say anything.

"How come you haven't said anything?!" Julie hits him with the back of her hand.

"Didn't feel right about it. But we are telling secrets so . . ."

"Tell!"

He sits up and wipes the popcorn butter on her pants. "So, the guys and I are hanging out a few weeks ago. Drinking –"

"Adam!" Connie's tone is serious now. "You know he isn't supposed to be drinking!"

"Yeah, I know and I said that but Charlie wasn't there and he only listens to Charlie so yeah. Anyway, so we're all drinking and Guy got really shitfaced and everyone was y'know talking about girls and stuff. And Guy said – and I quote – 'You know who I think is the most beautiful girl in the whole world? Connie.' And Goldberg said 'Prettier than models?' and he said 'Yes. Prettier than everyone.'"

"Aw!" Julie was smiling ear to ear and she squeezed Connie's shoulder.

"And then I asked him how he felt about you guys being over and he said 'I would get back together with her in a second. I love her so much, man. She's amazing. I love everything about her.'"

Connie is trying to hide her smile. She'd always sort of known that Guy would always love her, but she didn't think he'd ever want to get back together with her.

So the next morning when Adam and Julie leave she walks to Guy's house in the pouring rain and arrives on his doorstep soaking wet. He answers the door and gives her a crooked smile. "Connie? What are you doing here? . . . in the rain?"

"I love you," she says.

"What?"

"I love you. I want to get back together."

"You do? What? Why?"

Instead of answering, she pulls him outside on the porch and starts kissing him. Guy is kissing her back and she can feel him smiling against her lips.

* * *

When the Ducks find out in September (officially) that they're back together, they cheer. They keep saying how much better the Ducks will be now that the 'super couple of hockey' is back together and the both of them agree. It's a breath of fresh air to be this happy again, to be so openly happy. Connie loves getting to brush Guy's arm with her fingers when they talk in the hallway. He loves getting to walk her to classes. She loves getting to sit on his lap during lunch and kiss and get yelled at by the cafeteria aides for PDA.

The Ducks win their last game of senior year, and they all get a big banner up on the wall with all of their names on it. Adam gets his jersey retired and gets hung up in the rink. Bombay comes back to watch the game and he and Orion chip in their money to fly the kids out to Disney World in celebration. None of them have ever been to Disney before, and even though they're seniors it's a pretty big deal.

But after the Disney trip, life is pretty boring for the Ducks. Everything is about colleges and exams and where they're going to go. Portman and Fulton have decided they want to go to a trade school instead of attending another school. Everyone else, though, is applying somewhere. Adam has been scouted by multiple teams and offered four years' tuition from all the schools. All he has to do now is decide.

Guy has no idea what he wants to do. According to him, he isn't good at anything so there's no point in even going to college. For a while whenever he said this, Connie would simply scold him and tell him he was good at lots of things, he just couldn't see this because he had low self esteem. And then it became January, and he still hadn't applied anymore. Connie had decided at the beginning of the year that she wanted to play college hockey, but she would pick psychology as a major. She'd sent out four applications to four fairly good schools. When she found out about Guy's lack of applications, she insisted that he at least look at their local community college. Only to make Connie happy, he applies and a month later he gets in – to his shock.

So everything is fine and dandy. Really great for once actually. No joke. They both get cases of senioritis (Guy gets his first, and then Connie when she gets accepted into her first choice) and spend their afternoons playing street hockey and eating pizza with their friends.

As happy and exciting as things are, Connie can't help but get sad. It seems like all around her, things are ending. First their time as The Ducks. Then in March, Charlie and Linda break up (which she notices that Adam is a little too pleased about). In April, the boy Julie had been seeing breaks up with her because he's going away to a big fancy college and she's going back to Maine. It's all Connie can do to imagine June, when this time of her life will really be over. Her friends who she's known her whole life will all go into different directions, and she'll probably never see most of them again. And then there's Guy. He's staying in Minneapolis, and she's moving upstate. As small of a difference as it seems, they'll still be farther away from each other then they've ever been.

She worries about what a long distance relationship will be like. Probably awful. As much as she loves Guy and as great of a person she thinks he is, she knows that it's inevitable that he'll mess up by doing something stupid. Like with all the Ducks out of town (except the bash brothers, who will probably enable him to be honest) he might start drinking again. Or maybe one night while Connie's busy studying and can't talk, he'll cheat on her with some random skank he met an hour before. It won't work out. She knows that. And as hard as it is to admit, she knows that she doesn't want to be tied down at this point in her life. She wants to be free to explore, to be with who she wants when she wants.

It all comes crumbling down during prom night. They have their prom in a big rich people place that all the Ducks except Adam feel uncomfortable in, and hardly any one of them dances. Linda is glaring at Charlie all night. Luis spends his time making out with his latest girlfriend. Fulton and Portman get piss drunk and vomit on some cheerleader's shoes. Dwayne asks numerous girls to dance and gets rejected by each one of them. Julie feels bad enough that she finally dances with him. Everyone else sits at a table, telling lame jokes and eating too much food.

Guy and Connie are having a great time, they dance practically all night and stuff themselves only a little bit. It's so romantic, so out of character for the both of them, but for some reason they feel so natural.

Until Averman ruins it by opening his big mouth. Sometime during the night, he sees Connie and Guy laughing and angrily says, "Oh, so you guys are cool now? After what Connie's doing, Guy?"

She knows what he's talking about but doesn't know how he could possibly know. She'd only told Julie, Adam and Charlie about her plans to break up with Guy after graduation and she knows none of them would betray her by spilling her secret.

"What are you on about, Averman?" says Guy, his hand still on her waist.

"Leave it," Connie says. She notices the redness in Averman's face. "He's drunk,"

"I may be drunk but I'm not stupid. I heard what you told those guys. Did you really think it was gonna be a secret for long?" He practically spits it out, he's so angry. Connie is mad that he's doing this, but on some level she understands. Averman and Guy had always been close, closer than she'd been with anyone until high school.

She says nothing.

Averman laughs. Guy raises an eyebrow, confused.

"I can't believe you would do this. After everything. After fucking everything you've put him through, you're pulling this shit now. Just when our lives are starting to begin or whatever."

"I haven't put him through anything, asshole!" she's yelling, and doesn't want to be, but she is.

"Connie, what's he talking about?" Guy says it seriously, and he's looking her straight in the eye calmly. He only talks like this when he's worried.

"Tell him or I will," says Averman, shrugging.

Connie looks from Averman to Guy and then sighs. She takes Guy's hand and pulls him outside the ballroom. It takes her a while, but finally, she tells him everything. About all of her doubts, and her ever present need for adventure. And then she tells him that she wants to break up.

Guy shakes his head in disbelief. "You're joking, right?"

She's crying now. "No . . . no. I'm sorry. I – I didn't want you to find out like this, I was – I was going to tell you after graduation, before I left."

"Oh, like that would make it hurt any less? Connie, I mean, come on. After everything we've been through, you want to do this now? Why?"

"I already told you why."

"So you want to breakup because you think I'm gonna become a full fledged alcoholic and just sleep with twenty girls left and right? Does that sound like me?"

She looks up at him with tear filled eyes and notices his eyes look the same. "The alcoholic part kind of does,"

His mouth falls open, his eyebrows raised. "Wow." Guy wipes his nose on the sleeve of his tux. "Wow, I . . ."

"I love you, okay? I will always love you. This doesn't change anything. I just want a break."

"A four year break? I can't," she can hear him trying to stifle his tears. "I can't be without you for four years, Connie. That's not something I can handle."

"I'm sorry."

Guy breathes a straggled breath. He bites his lip. "No, you're not."

"I love you."

He starts to walk away from her. "Stay away from me."

"Guy! Guy, come on, please."

He isn't listening anymore. He's walking out the doors of the lobby to go outside. To go where, she doesn't know.

Connie collapses against the wall she's next to it, hot tears streaming down her cheeks, ruining her mascara. Anyone going into the lobby to make out leaves her alone, ignoring the crying girl to attend to their own business. She must be there for twenty minutes when Julie finally comes looking for her, throwing an arm around her and hugging her to a chest, saying something about how Averman drunkenly told her about her telling Guy.

She doesn't want to be there anymore, so Julie runs inside to get Adam and insists that he drive the two of them back to Connie's house. Connie's head rests on Julie's shoulder the whole ride home, only a few sniffles per minute coming from her and nothing else.

* * *

Graduation is the next week. All the Ducks hug and party and celebrate, but Connie can't help but feel a certain level of animosity coming from Averman and Goldberg, and obviously Guy. Everyone else is too distracted by the festivities to really care about relationship drama.

As mad as Guy is with her, she knows today hurts for him. She'd overheard Charlie tell Adam that Guy's mother wasn't attending today's event. She was apparently too depressed about his father to be there without him. Connie could only imagine how he felt about this – she remembered their fourth grade graduation when he'd hid in the janitor's closet because he was so upset. She smiled faintly at the memory – so much had changed since then. But she hadn't completely changed. So when Guy's name gets called, she stands up in her seat and claps loudly for him, even throwing in a woo. He turns around from his seat to look at her, but doesn't smile. He just goes to get his diploma. The kids around her laugh at what she's done, but Connie doesn't really mind. She's proud of herself.

The ceremony ends and everyone in their class stands up and cheers excitedly. Connie is hugging anyone she can see, even if she's never spoken to them. She notices from the corner of her eye that Guy is being as introverted as usual, sticking to himself unless someone comes over to shake his hand or a Duck gives him a hug.

It's only when she's alone for a second, with her arms around nobody that she finally decides to go over to him. The Ducks who had gone over to him are now wrapped up in their own conversations. Guy sees her coming towards him, and surprisingly, he doesn't walk away. He waits for her, actually. Connie reaches him and grins a little bit, before awkwardly burying her head in his shoulder. He does nothing for a second and then hugs her back.

They stay like that for a little while, until Russ grabs the both of them and yells something about finally being high school graduates. They laugh and smile at him, but then turn back to each other.

"I'm really gonna miss you while I'm gone," Connie says.

Guy ignores that. "It was cool of you to stand up there like you did."

She shrugs, embarrassed for some reason. "Yeah, I guess."

"Really though. Thank you."

"You know, Guy, just because we're broken up doesn't mean I'll stop being there when I know you need me,"

This brings a small smile to his face and he leans down to kiss her cheek. She can feel herself blushing but doesn't say anything.

* * *

That's the last time they see each other for a long time. They had a million chances to see each other that summer between high school and college, but neither of them could work up the courage to call. Before Connie leaves, the only Ducks she speaks to are Julie and Adam and she tells them to tell everyone she says goodbye. They know what she means by 'everyone.' Before they can tell Guy though, he's already got a new girlfriend. Or a friend. Or a hook up. Whatever they can call her. So they don't tell Guy anything because of how awkward things will be.

Connie excels in psychology, so much so, that she decides that she wants to pursue it as a career. Guy finishes his time in community college as an undeclared major and decides after that that he's going to go to University to play hockey – the one thing he's ever liked doing.

Connie gets a new group of friends. The only Duck she stays in contact with is Julie after Adam gets too busy working on his career. She gets a boyfriend in her sophomore year and they date until a little after graduation, when they both realize that they want to go different places with their lives. Guy 'dates' lots of different girls and hangs out with lots of guys that love to party. The only Ducks he keeps in contact with are Averman and Goldberg – everyone else is apparently too busy doing whatever the hell they're doing to want to call him. He graduates with a degree in sports medicine.

After college, Connie moves out to California (where she's wanted to live since the Goodwill games so many years ago) to become a psychologist. Guy stays in Minneanapolis to work as a doctor for teams in the NHL. They both get their own tiny apartments (Guy has more guests than Connie does; hers only extend to her girlfriend and two different guys that she dates for a few months each).

The next time they see each other, they're twenty five and both get an email from Bombay who's holding what he calls 'The first annual Ducks reunion' back home in District 5.

* * *

Connie's flight gets in the day of the reunion – only a few hours before actually. She called Julie on the plane who meets her at the airport to pick her up. It's like nothing changed at all. She can only hope that things are like that with the rest of the Ducks.

Bombay rented out a smallish restaurant for them to hold their reunion. The first people there are Orion and Charlie. Charlie runs right over to the girls and gives them big hugs, talking to them like he'd only just seen them a few days before. Connie remembers that that's what she always liked the best about Charlie – how he could always make everyone feel welcome. Everyone else files in at different times, each giving out their own hugs and their own 'how ya been's?' The only one she really pays attention to is Adam, who she watches on television all the time thanks to his NFL games. But he quickly gets mobbed by Bombay and Orion who have a million questions for him.

Guy shows up last. Charlie (of course) is the first one who gets up to greet him. Connie stares at him as each person envelops him into their arms, not knowing what she should do. He looks handsome, just as great as she remembers. She hadn't realized until then just how much she'd missed him, or just how weird it had been not speaking to him for the past eight years.

When he finally sees her, he gets the same expression on his face that she has. He approaches her slowly, and when they finally reach each other, they hug uncomfortably. It should feel much better than it actually does – but considering they only touch for about five seconds, it's just awkward.

"Hey,"

"Hey,"

They say finally.

"You uh, you look great," says Guy, touching her shoulder gently. She feels a surge of energy rush through her.

"You do too," she speaks softly. "How are you? I mean, whatcha been up to?"

"I work for the NHL which is pretty cool," he wastes no time saying it and Connie thinks for a second that maybe he's trying to impress her, but that can't be it.

"Really? That's so cool! Doing what?"

"I just like give them medicine and patch em up and shit. I uh, I see Adam sometimes, which is cool. Brings me back to the good old days,"

Connie smiles. "Yeah, I wish I had that. I barely talk to anyone anymore. Moved out to California after college to become a psychologist,"

"You? Really?" he says it like he's totally surprised, and Connie jabs him softly.

"Yes, really. I don't know it's kind of fun, actually. Pays good too."

"Isn't that what we all look for in a job?"

The conversation feels so forced, but at the same time it feels so right. Like they should've been talking to each other for years, keeping up on their lives.

They stare at each other again, both saying nothing, and then finally Guy says, "Come on. I mean, we were practically inseperable for years. This is stupid," And with that he wraps his arms around her waist and picks her up, spinning her around in circles a few times before putting her back down. Connie's squealing at him to put her down the whole time, but when he does, she wishes he hadn't. Her hands are still on his shoulders and she falls into his chest, giggling. She feels him kiss the top of her head.

"Less awkward now?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says, still smiling.

The Ducks spend the dinner going over their lives and explaining how things are for them now. Everyone is doing so well and Connie and Guy both feel proud of all their friends for being successful. The biggest thing that happens is when Adam and Charlie awkwardly announce that they've been going out secretly for the past year. They all feel awkward about it for a second (except for Connie and Julie, who always knew Adam was bi, and who glare at the everyone in case anyone has a problem with it) and then everyone claps, happy for the both of them.

"Should we expect any other romances from you guys?" Bombay says. Everyone knows who he's talking about, and they all look right at Connie and Guy, who blush awkwardly and hide their faces.

"I'll take that as a no."

Everyone laughs, but no one is totally buying it. They all know that it's inevitable, that at some point Connie and Guy will get back together.

* * *

The two of them spend the entirety of the next day together. Guy picks her up in his truck (which she makes fun of him for only for a little while) first thing in the morning and they go for a walk in the park. They tell each other every single detail about their lives that they've missed, about Connie's boyfriends, about Guy's girlfriends that weren't really girlfriends, about their respective friends and their bosses, who both of them actually like okay. They stop for ice cream from the ice cream truck around twelve, and Connie is surprised that Guy still remembers her order. They sit down on a nearby bench and play 'would you rather' until they finish up, Connie wiping some strawberry off of Guy's chin.

When the park gets too hot, they decide to ride around in Guy's car for a little bit, maybe go to some spots in town that they used to go to. That leads to a lot of reminiscing, a lot of talk about stupid things they did as kids. A trip to the old pizza place makes the both of them blush and discuss when they first became a couple.

"Do you ever . . ." Guy practically whispers.

"Do I ever what?" says Connie.

"I don't know. Miss it? Miss the way things were when we were together and Bombay was our coach?"

Connie bites her lip. "I feel like everything got kind of fucked when we got to high school. Everything got so complicated."

"Us especially," says Guy.

Connie nods. She thinks for a minute, staring ahead and not at Guy. "Sometimes I think it wasn't the right time for us then. That maybe our time was just for middle school and that was it,"

Guy feels something burn in his stomach, something that he's sure is a bit of anger, and something accusatory. Like maybe Connie stopped giving a shit about him after middle school. He kind of knows that's not true though. "It wasn't a total mistake, you know. I mean – I loved you."

She turns to look at him then, expressionless. "It wasn't a mistake. I don't regret us, Guy. At any time we were going out, I don't regret loving you."

He tries to hide the smile on his face but he's pretty sure Connie can see it. She puts her hand on the steering wheel. "Come on, let's go somewhere else,"

They drive to Eden Hall next. A place that both of them hated at certain times and loved at other times. After that, they drive past the lake they met Bombay on and then past both of their childhood homes. Connie thinks about making a comment about all the sex they used to have there, but decides against it. However, when they get to Guy's house, he parks and says, "You wanna do something fun?"

She nods excitedly.

Before she knows it, she's wearing a pair of Guy's old roller skates and they're skating down the street just like old times. She's a little wobbly on her feet – hasn't roller skated since freshmen year of high school. Connie keeps reaching out for Guy's hands to steady her, and he chuckles each time she does, commenting on how she really should get back to this more.

They skate in the same path that they used to without even realizing it. It's not really the same though, because there's too many cars on the main road who keep beeping at them every time they get too close.

For dinner, they go back to the pizza place they were at earlier. Both of them moan upon biting into the pizza that almost tastes like childhood to the both of them. They talk some more about stupid things and then they end up playing two truths and a lie, which doesn't end up being that hard because they really do know everything about each other. So then they play 'would you rather' again and they end up making so much noise that they start getting strange looks from all the middle school kids around them.

Guy's watching Connie laugh with a goofy smile on his face, one that he doesn't think he's gotten since the last time he saw her years ago. "I miss you," he blurts out accidentally.

She stops laughing, but keeps smiling. "I miss you too. We should get together more."

"Why haven't we talked in eight years, Connie? I mean . . . I just feel like we should've."

"Me too. I just – I was afraid to call you, I guss. We didn't really have the best breakup,"

He chuckles ironically. "No, not at all."

"But to be fair, all of our breakups were pretty shitty."

"To be honest, that one hit me the worst," he admits. Connie cocks her head to the side, confused. "I mean, yeah the one before my dad died was just a bad time in my life in general, so I'm not going to count that. But the last one – I don't know, I just kind of felt like you were purposely planning your life without me."

Connie reaches across the table to take his hand without really thinking about it. "That's not true. I kind of thought you thought that . . . and I just, didn't know how to talk to you about it. That was never true. I never wanted to plan my life without you, I – I wanted to be on my own at the time."

"You don't anymore?"

"No," she shakes her head and looks him right in the eye, hoping that he sort of understands what she's trying to say without words. He does.

"Do you think we would work this time? If we got back together?"

She says nothing.

He lets go of her hand, not because he's angry, but because he's just confused. "Then what would be the point in getting back together?"

"It's . . . it's – I mean, we're good together when things are good. Not so good when things are bad,"

"Maybe that'll change. We've matured, grown up,"

Connie smiles again. "I've been meeting to tell you, but you've actually grown up so well. Become such a great boy – man. Sorry, not really used to calling you that."

"Well, thanks. I'd tell you you're a great woman but you've always been," he continues so Connie won't think he's pissed. "But I was an asshole in high school so, I mean, you can't really say the same about me."

Connie sighs, "It wasn't really that you were an asshole, you just, sometimes, had problems expressing yourself, you know? And when you did, it was all just anger. A lot, a lot of anger."

* * *

The Ducks go out to lunch again the next morning since most of them are leaving that night. It's then that Guy decides he needs to carry out his plan that he'd come up with the night before while lying in bed, thinking about Connie (nothing new there).

He stands up at their table and keeps standing there until everyone finally notices he has something to say and silences.

Julie, the most hardcore Guy/Connie fan, smiles when Guy looks at Connie before he starts to speak and winks at Connie herself. She's expecting something big.

The rest of the table is whispering, wondering what's about to happen.

"Uh . . . okay," he hates speaking in public like this. He refused to do it in high school, would leave the room for long periods of time so he could avoid it. But this is for Connie. "So um, so yesterday, I uh – wow, this is uncomfortable. Uh, okay, yesterday. Best day of my life, like ever. For forever it's been the day we beat the Hawks, but now it's yesterday because I got to spend the entire day with Connie for the first time since I was seventeen,"

Connie's shaking her head, wanting him to stop so bad because she can hear Russ and Jesse making jokes behind her and she's embarrassed. Guy shakes his head back. "And while I was having this best day ever, I was thinking about how I hadn't been that happy in a long time. That whenever I'm that happy it's always been with Connie. All of my best memories are with her. And then Connie, you told me, that we never worked out because I could only express anger and nothing else. So, unless for some reason you interpret this as anger, I just wanted to tell you in front all of our friends that I love you. I have always, always loved you since the first time we met. And ever since we met, you've been my best friend and my favorite person in the world. And uh, yeah. I love you. I love you again. That's it,"

Connie does something no one has ever seen her do, she's crying happy tears. She stands up and kisses Guy passionately on the mouth. Everyone starts clapping and woo-ing, Portman and Fulton are banging on the table, and then Goldberg and Russ start doing it too. When they pull apart, Connie smiles and says, "I love you, too."

* * *

**Notes: Hey guys! I hope you liked the fic. Please let me know by reviewing! I might do a similar fic with Adam and Charlie (my other MD OTP) if things work out!**


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